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PAINE' S 



AGE OF THOUGHT 



OR, 



RIPPLES UPON LIFE'S SEA 



AS GIVEN BY 



THOMAS PAINE, 

Through the Medium&0fi of 

MISS SARAH A. RAMSDELL 



SAN FRANCISCO: / 
PRINTED BY A. L. BANCROFT & COMPANY. 

1872. 



\ 



PAINE'S 



AGE OF THOUGHT 



OR, 



EIPPLES UPON LIFE'S SEA. 



AS GIVEN BY 

THOMAS PAINE, 

Through the Medhimship of 

MISS SARAH A. RAMSDELL, 



o 






\ 



' 



SAN FRANCISCO: 
PRINTED BY A. L, BANCROFT & COMPANY. 

1872. 






I 



DO 



it 



A work 1 shall make interesting and worthy of promulgation: 

TO MARSHALL CURTIS. 

Feeling assured that it will reach the public mind, and also please a man 

who is ever pleased with truth, and who ever meets justice 

with the outspread hand of friendship. 

Let the true God of Love and Fellowship rest with the worlds while 
Thomas Paine digs for gems to drop from his spirit home, and thu^Bet m^ 
preface my work that the world may know I still bear duty to eartri; still 
am enabled to find ways and means of touching the thought sources of 
humanity, and thereby helping to build a temple of truth that shall with- 
stand the picking hand of time. I shall speak now in rhythmic verse, and 
forever after may hold my peace. 

THOMAS PAINE. 

To Marshal Curtis, 
By Order of Compact in the seventh degree of Literature vs. Light, 



PREFACE, 

Thomas Paine to Mr. Anderson: — Dear Sir : Having looked 
around earth for an Artist to portray my physiognomy from 
a spiritual standpoint, I can find none I can come in harmony 
with so well as yourself. I can come en rapport with you, and 
will do so if you will name the time, the day, and the hour, you 
can devote to me. I am giving a small poem to the world, 
dedicated to Marshal Curtis, a friend in the cause of progress; 
and aa a pleasure to him, and a test to the world, I would like 
my spirit face to show in its opening pages. I will impress you 
correctly with one, a negative, to be photographed from, if you 
feel like complying with my request. 

Yours, in the holy trinity of Faith, Hope and Love, 

Thomas Paine. 



Historic pages, sombre shades, I'll mingle in my compact, and 
give as freely as though I'd always gathered from the sunny side 
of life. My muse has been long waiting, long pondering, and 
often giving me a pinch of discontent that sent me leaping back- 
wards to gather up the scattered pages that contained my work of 
years. The torch I most wish lighted, is the torch of truth; that 



preface, ^ 

its light may reflect the God-traits throughout the whole length 
and breadth of human weal and woe. My " Age of Reason," 
gave to the world a shock which it has scarcely now recovered 
from, but I have always noticed that a second charge does more 
effectual work, because fortifications have been erected whereby 
we can brace ourselves and hold honest compact with the world. 
Food, to be well digested, needs to be well masticated; and the 
food that keeps the mind-hopper in repair, evenly toned and 
firmly balanced, is the food gathered from the wide-spread field 
of research. I bear to the world of earth to-day no reproach, 
because my "Age of Reason" could not light beside the river- 
stream of thoughtful exploration. I have gained in my journey 
skyward, or heavenward, a broad and beautiful leaf, which I have 
named Charity, and I keep it as a mantle of peace to spread over 
all earthly deformity. 

Nothing stirs my heart now for the land of my birth, but love 
pure and purpose full. And while I strive with the weakened 
organism of thought, lent to me by the great and good soul of 
Theodore Parker, and acquiesced in by the lady chosen to do 
the work, I need not despair, for truth has ever dug its way 
through the mirage ground of difficulty. 

[Given by Thomas Paine, through the trance condition of 
Sarah A. Ramsdell, in the year of our Lord, 1871]. 





PAINE'S AGE OF THOUGHT. 



Strange visions float around my brain, 

And mingle in my cup of gain; 

For earth has once more raised a doubting head, 
That grows more palsied in the fangs of dread; 

And I must ride my cherub steed of truth, 

Along her wayward, current stream, deep swollen since my youth 

Now, let us take for instance, Adam's holy race, 

The first we have on record since the world showed honest face; 
And witness how the beverage of all life has been drank, 
From out the narrow pool, styled in Bible, Adam's tank. 

I fain would dress our olden Adam up, 

Leave naught in the background but his wond'rous great coat; 
Whose suction sleeves are loosing caste, 
Since progress cuts garments ahead of the past. 



AGE OF THOUGHT, 



Mankind, I think, at the present rate of speed, 
Will soon loose the hitching-post of Adamic creed, 
That will stand as a land-shark pointing the way 
To the D evil's field of glory when ignorance ruled the day. 

The shamiest sham m the mighty world to-day, 
Is sticking to an error that is passing through decay, 

And trying to build a temple on the scraggy points of sin,. 

That Helvetus in his glory could never hope to win. 

The pagan world of mystery, whose strife marks show no power,, 
Where hast thou gone, where dost thou rest, if truth dwelt in thy 
bower ? 

Come forth, thou gay old songster bird, 

And give a chant to God's new word. 

Give, while you have a voice to speak,. 
Unto this world no longer weak, 

But struggling; with its crest of pride,, 

To welcome to its angel side 
The holly branch of truth and love, 
Sent fluttering forth like Noah's dove. 

The olden Bards of Grecian lore, 

Far-famed for witchcraft, laid in store; 
Why did ye delve, why seek to give 
Food to the mind, and power to live t 

Why build your castles high in state, 

If death stood hero at the gate. 

Ye heavenly God, why hide Thy face,. 



AGE OF THOUGHT. 

Why mingle in so long 1 a chase ? 
If Thou art personal, why not give 
The wond'rous way in which you live; 
If thou be Christ, with Father none, 
Who gave thee birth-right as a son ? 

Who gave thee power to ride at ease, 
To some give pain and others please ? 
If Thou art tangible in Thy make, 
Some power to fashion lent Thee shape; 
And high above Thy lordly head, 
The truth mark of Thy being sped. 

Thy shoulders must be broad, indeed. 
To well sustain such wrangling creed 

As travel through the world with pride,. 

Intent to keep on Thy right side, 
And well secure a private seat, 
Where none but creedists ever meet. 

Some features in Thy wond'rous face, 

We have not power to truthful trace; 
For ki Thy broad and fluttering flight,- 
You dim at once our keenest sight; 

Leaving us here with little means 

Forever, just behind the scenes. 

I cannot now deduce one fact, 
To mingle in my broad compact, 
That Thou art separate and apart* 



10 AGE OF THOUGHT. 

From this vast world with human heart; 
And I no chain could ever find, 
If cut, would loose Thee from the public mind', 

We call Thee Father; call Thee love, 
And call Thee power that dwells above; 
But never have we named Thee right, 
Since Thou art everything in might. 
The tiny flower, the pearly shell, 
The highest heaven, the deepest hell, 

All claim Thee, Father God, to be 
The truth mark of this living sea 

Of upturned spiral points that prove' 

Thou art forever on the move. 
A restive spirit, ill at ease, 
Since Thou found human hearts to please.' 

The Israelites of Bible hue, 

Were numbered once a mighty crew; 

Who found Thee in Thy power full fledged,- 
And to the laws of Satan pledged, 

To work in Unison like twins agreed, 

To flourish each a staple seed. 

This good and evil seemeth well, 
It speaks of Heaven and speaks of Hell; 
Two warring states of equal size, 
Intent to scratch each others eyes; 



AGE OF THOUGHT. II 

And wear the badge of honest merit, 
That each most clearly do inherit. 

No lawyer on the course of time, 
Can well adjust this porcupine, 

And make the quills of good and evil, 

String evenly with separate needle; 
Therefore, we must deduce this fact, 
That these fair twins are bone of one back. 

If God were feeling ill at ease, 

For fear the world He could not please, 

I think some sign would rear a head,. 

That God with glory ne'er had wed, 
But firm the compact seems to stand,. 
And all admit the world well planned. 

Job had his trials, so do we, 

But what was good for Job does not with me' agree,' 

And for a pattern cut to patience prove, 

Job surely filled the smallest groove; 
For who does not at present time, 
Bear many things not quite divine. 

We count our troubles twice a day, 
Nor give our pleasures chance to lay, 

For fear the hen of discontent, 

May deem our time but poorly spent, 
If we don't fuss and fidget round, 
And oft declare the world not sound- 



H AGE OF THOUGHT. 

God spake to Moses, and the chime' 
Was cottnted by the world sublime; 
But is God's voice no longer heard, 
Since Moses broke the golden word; ; 
Have we no messages of love, 
From God the token house above. 

His chariot wheels bear muffled sounds, 
As He in vastness takes His rounds; 
And finite minds are puzzled quite 
To understand the smallest mite 
Of His great atom house of work, 
Where mind has never found a shirk. 

Who takes the word of God to-day 

In any but the natural way, 

In oceans wild, and quiet moods, 

In sylvan streams and fair wild woods,- 

In simplest things, in grandest art, 

God's love-toned voice sinks to the heart 

My " Age of Reason," left with time, 
Is filled with flaws, and filled with slime, 
For in the spirit which I gave, 
Was neither power to mend or save; 
And since that time I've learned to give 
With loving kindness while I live. 
• 

God's voice of love, how oft betrayed, 
How deeply heard, and wide portrayed, 



AGE OF THOUGHT. {3 

How vast its notes of thrilling power, 

Then sweetly tuned to lady's bower; 
And in each change we clearly trace, 
The music in God's love-lit face. 

We cannot love our God too much, 
We can but hate our devil as such, 

For one is goodness well declared, 

The other right, if well repaired 
And kept within the bounds of reason, 
The standing guard against all treason. 

We glorify a spurious power, 
Since God is with us every hour; 

But we in service once a week, 

Do only dare His name to speak; 
And some declare a Sunday God 
To be as bad as birchen rod, 

'Tis strange how education makes 
Such wondrous wide and dark mistakes; 

And how Time's scythe is cutting deep 

Into the sluggish pools of sleep, 
And bringing forth to reason's light 
The torch to light the darkest night. 

We give our brains too much of ease, 
Or think perhaps to others please, 

By sticking to their role of fame, 

And thus escaping any blame; 



14 'AGE OF TH0UGH1. 

For coming out with new ideas 

Is ofttimes planting thorns and tears. 

The world is seeming more at ease, 
Since prayer is not on bended knees; 
But, in a life of active duty, 
The world sees prayer in all its beauty, 
And would do well each day to live, 
That deeds would be the prayer to give. 

Were Christ to step from glory down, 
The world would deem his quaker gown 

Of such enormous length and merit 

To be too tame to now inherit, 
Since preaching Christ is doing well 
And putting up the bars to hell. 

Why meddle with his spirit wise, 

Since truth can wear such broad disguise, 
And save us much of time and trouble, 
To make disguise at all times double, 

And thus make league w^th error strong, 

To satisfy the public wrong. 

What witchcraft in the world to-day ? 

It seems like devil work and play, 

And church folks think 'tis wondrous strange, 
That spirits have so wide a range ; 

And, in the face of honest people, 

Are pulling at the church and steeple. 



AGE OF THOUGH!. 1 5 

A will-o'wisp to frighten fools, 
Or dandy jack supplied with tools, 

That none could ever find were left, 

Or ever hear of any theft; 
But still it must be Satan's crew, 
Putting the world in such a stew. 

I do not see why spirits wise, 
Don't seek to open people's eyes, 

And let the truth, if truth it be, 

Come out so plain that all can see; 
For, if its worthy being found, 
Why not in freedom pass it round. 

The wisdom of the wisest men 

Has been transposed by cunning pen, 

But who can make this medley tell 

Its object, aim or place to dwell, 
Or who commissioned such a band 
To show their tricks throughout the land. 

The priesthood think its evil work, 
And at each other wink and smirk; 

And wonder if their purse will feel 

The crushing power of Satan's heel; 
And ask themselves in serious meter, 
If this same power helped John and Peter. 

Or, if the witch of Endor saw 
The spirit Samuel without Haw, 



1 6 AGE OF THOUGHT, 

Surely, the self same things enacted 
As were in scripture days transacted; 
But human nature ever weak, 
Says God has now no need to speak. 

Since all things proper, nice and wise, 
God gave to earth in strange disguise; 
And finite creatures should not cater, 
To plainer words, though some years later; 
Or in God's book of nature read, 
For there's no advocate for creed. 

A wise old hen one morning fine, 
Said to herself: "[go out and dine, 

And if your neighbor's food seems healthy, 
It will, of course, make you more wealthy, 
And give your stomach active tone, 
Which has of late dyspeptic grown. 

li This picking always in one place, 
May show the world an honest face; 
But then by crossing the bee-line, 
I've found some food that I call fine, 
And suited to my present need, 
Then wherefore have I guilt to plead." 

Thus reasons many an honest man, 
Who thinks to step outside his clan, 

And gain a drop of freedom's knowledge, 
Not found in books or creedal college, 



AGE OF THOUGHT. ij 

But in old nature's umpire wide, 
A book unreal with honest pride. 

God's law of wisdom is quite plain, 
But ignorance ties us with a chain, 

And superstition travels free, 

And doth with ignorance well agree; 
So these two powers for lack of sense, 
Keep mortals oft astride the fence. 

If sin could take a patent out, 
And goodness play the wily scout, 

Who would object if purse thrown in 

An agency in league with sin; 
And who not think that goodness sly, 
Was peering from a wicked eye ? 

There is a power in play of gold, 

That makes the world appear quite bold ; 

And turns the stream of common sense, 

Into the channel of pretense; 
And bridges up each stream with art, 
For nature acts the common part. 

And classify we must mankind, 

To common folks give common kind; 

And let them feel that wealth is free 

To recognize no working bee; 
We do admit that labor's grand, 
When well performed by poor man's hand. 



1 8 AGE OF THOUGHT. 

But, since Dame Fortune has shown favor, 

And set up caste devoid of labor, 

Why wealth must hold the reins to guide, 
The poorer class along time's tide ; 

And also dig a gulf so deep, 

That charity falls fast asleep. 

God counts His jewels one by one, 
From rise of morn till set of sun, 

And on the poor man's brow oft finds 

A diadem for spirit climes, 
And far exceeding golden merit. 
Which never did Christ's blood inherit. 

The Jews, a nation ill at ease, 

Sought power and pomp, God's will to please, 
And in Christ's meek and loving ways 
They had no voice of thanks or praise; 

And to this day, their true Messiah 

Must well present an arm of fire. 

The Jews are now a weakling band, 
With camp-fires set throughout the land, 

And waiting for some Heavenly sign 

To set o'er favored Palestine; 
To guide them safe within the -fold 
Of Paradise, well filled with gold. 

A stumbling block the Jews have been 
Along time's coast of honest men; 



AGE OF 7 HOUGH!. 

No mercy have they shown in trade, 
No kindness run their heart's blockade, 
But firmly fixed in ancient laws, 
They ask no Devil, without his claws. 

What nation can deny Christ's power, 

And flourish long a love-lit flower, 

Whose bright-hued lip and fragrance pure, 
Sweetens life's cup, and we endure 

Unto the end of mortal chain, 

Then seek with -Christ, Love's broad domain. 

Christ may be mythic in His form, 

Since mythical, He was Earth born, 
And since we are left to guess at half, 
Christ might have had no earthly path; 

But in symbolic name 'twere best 

To throw out goodness as a test. 

The attributes that Christ possessed, 

Are certainly the very best, 

And must have been a need to Earth, 
To show mankind, their Heavenly birth; 

And also show that virtue's ring, 

Should be our high-toned monarch King. 

Christ's full appeal has ne'er been made, 

Because the soul is still afraid, 

And must not take too large a drink 
Of sweetest beverage in time's brink, 



19 



AGE OF THOUGH'!. 

For doubt must have a nest in life, 
To hatch out enmity and strife. 

Christ's mission never can be done, — - 

' He stands the central moral sun, 
Around which mortals do revolve, 
And make so many false resolves, 

That could Christ speak in verbal tone, 

T would be, "Old Earth, I'm still alone, 

"Still am I walking by the sea, 

Of far-famed ancient Galilee, 
Still pointing to my Father's Throne, 
That none of Earth be there disowned.'* 

For Heaven is not Heaven, if God be there 

And not give each a welcome chair. 

God gives to each and every one, 
A lengthened chain from causes sprung, 
And link by link we do obtain 
The knowledge of our godly chain, 
And where so e're we wandering go, 
The links will tell how much we know. 

Oh ! World, you little heed the truth 
God's well-spring, but to Earth in youth, 
And dare not open wide its mouth, 
Since too much showering, leads to drouth, 
And God, for fear the World would fail, 
Has offered truth with error trailed. 



AGE OF 1H0UGH1. 

It seems from Ancient history rare, 

That God was freaky in His Chair, 

And had His hopes, and fears, like men, 
And more in Heaven, His diadem; 

For somewhere in that book so wise, 

God's Crown was mottled as the Skies. 

I know the minds of Earth to-day, 
Cannot be fed on ancient hay, 

That has been dried, and filtered through, 

By every dogma creed and crew, 
That tied up to that ancient fiddle, 
That played all tunes and guessed all riddles. 

How sti ange it is, that error's sway, 
Has gained in bondage day by day, 

Until the foul old tank, at last 

Is casting forth its Jonah blast, 
And freeing wide its lungs of guilt, 
That told how freely blood was spilt. 

Our Saviour stood the test full well, 

In serving Heaven and clearing Heli, 
And on that rack of torture true, 
The Church have laid their sinful crew, 

And washed their hands from every sin, 

By dipping Christ in glory in. 

Christ's princely gifts never have been reached, 
His blood has been the infernal breach, 



AGE OF THOUGHT. 

And His pure spirit free from guile, 
Could not in sympathy deign a smile 
With all old fogy forms and fears, 
Therefore, he shed progressive tears. 

Christ never laid his burdens off ; 

They were pinned upon him like the moth 

That eateth off the fuz of show; 

Leaving first principles firm below, 
That stand so well the test of time 
And to our judgment well incline. 

Earth wears her staple fund of wealth, 
Be Christ in sickness or in health ; 
Be Christ in poverty, in rags and dirt, 
Wealth rides along with conscious smirk, 
And does not care to bothered be, 
By Christ in principle, a living tree. 

The glory of the world to day 
Is sunning like fresh morning hay ; 
And in its dream so rich and rare, 
The Devil sits in stately chair, 
And parries with his strength of old, 
In subterfuge made bright with gold. 

The book of books is labeled through, 
With blackmarks 'gainst the human crew, 

Of crimes of horror, deep and bold, 

Enacted in the times of old ; 



AGE OF THOUGHT. 



And claiming God the power of guide, 
Around the world's cold-blooded pride. 

According to old ancient laws, 
God's Priesthood wore the Devil's claws, 
And firmly held the power of State, 
By close communion — gold as bait — 
And for each bit of bread and wine, 
Another soul with Christ could dine. 

How flimsy was that placard show, 

In Heaven where naught but deeds can go, 
And whoe'er steps beside the gate, 
Must show their passport else must wait 

Until some good old geni rare, 

Transforms bad faces into fair. 

For truth to say the human face 
Is perfect index of its race; 

If stormy wild the inland show, 

The face tells plainly it is so. 
If sweet cake be the bottom land, 
The face will show a sweet cake band. 

Progressive stairs are being built, 
Where mankind can see their guilt, 
And see how ignorance is the chain, 
That ties our souls to worldly gain, 
And makes this mammon field of earth 
A burial ground for seeds of worth. 



23 



24 



AGE OF THOUGHT. 

Oh, man ! why will ye strive and delve^ 

To bury talents e'en to twelve ? 

For God with wisdom gives with care 7 
But we say time we cannot spare; 

We have our mark to make in life, 

And gold pleads monarch of the strife. 

Therefore, we tamper, toil and wait, 

Until death swings the golden gate, 
And we are ushered in at last 
To see distinct the mistaken past, 

That boldly cries, Oh ! traitor man, 

Why did you not the future scan ? 

Why did you not give heed to love ? 

Why did you fail to coop the dove 
That has been fluttering since the Ark 
For foot rest, when the world grew dark; 

But so unstable were all homes, 

The dove's bright song was turned to moans. 

Man cannot keep the face of earth, 

It ever points to spiral birth, 

And takes a port in heaven's high cell, 
Where naught but purity can dwell; 

And naught but love's bright wreath can bind 

The heavenly with the human kind. 

I once held vigils on earth's soil, 
In times of war and wild turmoil, 



Age of thought. 

And sought to do my best with truth, 
But found old age still clung to youth, 
And that the name of Thomas Paine, 
Would be a curse 'till freedom's reign. 

My " Age of Reason "—common sense — 

I never wrote astride the fence, 
But firmly with my soul in light, 
I stepped into the darkest night, 

And bowed my head and heart to God, 

Then firmly walked beneath the rod. 

I faced the martyr's ranks on earth, 

I suffered, but God saw the birth 
Of freedom in my cup of gain, 
For which I bless all earthly stain ; 

And would, for principles of truth and right, 

Face hatred, with her tongue of might. 

Earth dare not at this present time, 
Put clog- wheels on God's truth divine; 
For Christ's own mediumistic power, 
Its vigils keep in many a bower; 
And many a home on earth to-day, 
Has been made happy through Christ's sway; 

And many a worn and weary heart 
Has borne like Christ the troubled part; 
Have been denied and called a Jew, 
By friendship trigged like Peter's crew,. 
Who do not wait for cock to crow, 
But at all times their venom blow, 



25 



26 AGE OF THOUGH!. 

Haw much the world preach Christ the brave r 

And turn away with faces grave 

From some poor beggar on the street, 
Who has no home or friends to greet,. 

No voice of love speaks to his ear, 

My brother beggar, come thou here. 

For are we not a twin-like part 

In beggary, around God's heart; 
And if God ceased to give to me, 
I surely could not give to thee; 

And if misfortune met your life, 

You've had, poor friend, enough of strife. 

Regeneration, God's bright star, 

Has ever been from man too far; 

But now it seems some new-made voice r 
Rings out: Progression is our choice; 

The olden track of dogmas blind, 

Fail now to satisfy the mind. 

The spirit world has grown so deft, 

So wise and far removed from theit,. 
That I do think the Bible world, 
Could find an ark with Noah sold; 

And every beast and creeping thing 

Be likened to the voice of sin. 

The power of mind first takes its cue 
From out the old, and thence the new, 



AGE OF THOUGHT. 

And learns to drink at reason's call, 

From out God's streams both great and small, 

That offer up their crystal drops, 

Supported oft by error's props, 

The juggernaut -man's mighty wrong 
Had place on earth in times long gone; 

So truths and errors fill the scale 

Of jaws as wide as Jonah's whale, 
That after gobbling up the man, 
Found lame at once the digestive plan. 

Mankind have swallowed errors free, 

No force-work in God's plan we see; 
And if man takes his cue from God, 
He need not swallow gram and pod; 

But let old Nature guide the way — 

He'll sift his grain from day to day. 

A spell creeps round me as I write, 

I seem to live in God's free light; 

I seem to have grown from earth apart, 
And still I keep my human heart; 

And, if I mount to God's broad stand, 

My feet must touch earth's bottom land. 

It is a mistaken thought with men, 
That death can change our diadem ; 
The only change that comes to man 
Is through progression's wisest plan; 



27 



28 AGE OF THOUGH!. 

As drop by drop the ocean's swell, 
Rings out its growth in joyous knell. 

I never miss again a friend 

Because I can to climate bend, 
And open every door with ease, 
In every house just where I please; 

But I keep still my manhood's pride, 

And never enter where denied. 

Earth turned her shoulders cold to me, 
Because I could not wisdom see, 
In Balaam's ass, a donkey rare, 
Found in that book of fabled prayer, 
That could man live in all its parts, 
Twould make him master son of arts. 

I thank my God, I bless the name, 
Of Father, that can be the same 

Though ill betide, though troubles come, 
I do not have to face the son, 
And gain by intercession bland 
A friendly grip from God's own hand. 

The world its rara-avis takes 
From every craft that bears mistakes; 
And each new hobby rode on earth, 
Brings more to view the miraculous birth; 
And should Christ loose this mystic ring, 
The world would save itself from sin. 



AGE OF THOUGH!. 2 g 



A chance it ever had at will, 

But priestcraft offered up the pill 
That made all mental effort vain 
Since Christ would wear a lengthened chain, 

And, by believing He was God's son, 

The immaculate robe was bravely won. 

The mind may wear a fossil hue, 

Become old fogy, dyed in blue; 

And stick to penance, prayer and fasting, 
And never change in moral casting; 

For, in obeyance to God's law, 

The outside man detects the flaw. 

I have a bit of counsel rare, 
I'll offer, back-couched, in a prayer; 
It comes in this wise : Oh ! my God, 
Let me bow humbly 'neath thy rod, 
Nor let me bow my soul to forms, 
They never answer through life's storms; 

They only serve to catch the eye 
Of this gay world in passing by, 

That scarcely stops to count the cost 

Of time and money vainly lost; 
Of churches gilded, spires that preach 
A lesson in their upward reach. 

Oh, God! give me of wisdom's cup, 
Give me the heart to with all sup, 



3 o AGE OF THOUGHT. 

And never let the crest of pride 

Be master, servant or a guide, 
For I would have those three old guests 
Join hands in friendship round my crest. 

It will not do to keep aloof 

From fields that wear a sinful woof, 
For in admixture we behold 
The various types in nature's mould; 

And Shem and Japheth of Noah's line, 

Have done brave work on the course of time. 

The Master Mason that guides the world's craft, 
Will never be acknowledged in the glory of His path; 
For mind must have a mystery, a hobby-horse to ride, 
To cater to the fashion and suit the world's high tide; 
That rather find a God fixed high in estate, 
Who would to golden honors be ever wide awake. 

Now, let me change my tactics, and beat about the bush, 
And see if heaven has served all right, that gave its door 
a push; 

Let's see if creedal synagogues bear weight against 

the wall, 
Or, if God, in His judgment role, pays heed to creed 

at all. 

I early learned to bear in mind 
That God was righteously inclined, 

And not to forms would bend or cater, 

In nature's book or commentator; 



AGE OF THOUGHT. 

For God is wisdom ne'er denied, 
That claims all things with honest pride, 
And claims the heart and soul of man 
To help prolong his wond'rous plan. 

His arm of power, its lights and shades, 

His forests grand and valley glades; 

His hoar old mountains grand with a«e, 
Show upward reach from nature's page; 

And show that strife can never win 

A single soul away from sin. 

I've met in heaven my bretheren all, 
From honest John to frecfky Paul; 

From Baptist Deacon Quaker Throng, 

I've joined in unity of song; 
And never found my faith grow less, 
That God would unity fail to bless. 

Creed has a mystic ring, I know, 
And ties up mind just so and so; 
And every Deacon of his Throng, 
Says: Mine's the tune, come right along; 
And if your purse will bear a ring, 
Why! my broad church is just the thing. 

But since I bade adieu to time, 
I have studied creed in all its prime; 
And I find that every bill of fare 
Is offered from a moneyed chair; 



3 2 



AGE OF THOUGHT. 

And since God takes no stock in gold, 
The creedal world is fairly sold,. 

God says to Deacon so-and-so, 

Did you sow grain you knew would grow, ? 

Or was your earth-life strewn with forms, ? 

Mere patch-work in a world of storms, 
Where deeds are needed to insure 
A creed that ever will endure. 

I find the words wrote on the wall 
Are: Come, ye sinners; come ye all, 

And take what justice has in store- — 

You can take that and nothing more, 
For God has fixed a law of right, 
And we are tied beyond our might. 

I once held converse with a Jew, 

He said, My friend, how fares it with you? 

For, according to report, the Devil was your guide, 
But I find you here in heaven with the glory of the 
tide; 
I am almost prone to think that God's a little slack, 
Since all find an entrance with a sin-loaded back. 

The veriest slave in the world to-day, 
Is a man or woman with a public neigh; 

Whose thoughts are bound and opinions blest, 

By many a call from the public nest, 
That says, Don't think 'till I say when, 
We'll measure you then with our public men. 



AGE OF 1H0UGH7. 



33 



There is many a Judas on the course of time, 
That crucify truth, not deeming it divine ; 

And more than twelve Apostles have been counted 
in a row, 

That let them tell the story would straight to glory go; 
So I think it not best to take the outside man, 
As nothing but the truth of God's wise and varied plan. 

Secession 'mongst the women, the cry has come at last, 

For freedom is a mocking-bird while there's a fetter cast; 
Let victory be "the watch-word, no other serves the day, 
While freedom rears a mighty head and stands a stag 
at bay; 

Let's pull its high old crest of pride, 

For standing guard 'round truth denied. 

The moral of my simple verse 
Is: Never pull the public purse; 

But have one ready of your own, 

Then all false coin at once disown; 
And never worship spurious power, 
But seek God's face in every flower; 

In every tiny shell and bird, 

Find God expressed in living word. 
And, if you wish to find a creed, 
Attach yourself to worldly need; 

You'll have no calls for tithes or rent, 

But find your money justly lent 
Unto the Lord, who seeks to find 
A Godly man with human mind; 

But has, I think, hung up his fiddle, 

And just pronounced mankind a riddle. 

3 



34 AGE OF THOUGHT. 



I now propose to speak of growth; of the spiritual overcoming 
or mastering the material. When the spirit becomes highly 
rarified, it then assumes the perfectness of flight, and is more 
elastic than air, and more compact and solidified than when 
attached to the earth molecules of protection. I can now wing 
my flight as freely as a bird, but I must have my own conditions 
— no one's else will serve me. In the first place, I must have a 
desire, unless I am ordered out on duty without desire being con- 
sulted. Again, I must have my barouche of harmony, my mag- 
netic conditions of strength, a feeling that my presence is de- 
sired, not an unbelief or doubt in regard to my capacity to again 
appear on earth. Spirit becomes sensitive after laying off its 
earth habiliment, that is, sensitive to the harshness of earth 
atmosphere, and sensitive to the bickerings and jar of earthly 
deformities of unbelief. I propose to first speak of my own ex- 
perience in the spiritual atmosphere of life-hood, because I give 
this small token of truth with a feeling of hope that it may speak 
to the heart and soul of the unbelieving, and wing its way to the 
platform of justice. 

I wish to state here and now, that I am infidel to all 
knowledge of a personal God, only the one outwrought in every 
specific form of nature. Man is but the one form or expression 
of God; the highest intellectual type that matter will ever assume. 
Man will ever progress to deeper shadings and loftier gleanings 
of knowledge until the principle of mind, accumulation, become 
typical and joint heir with the Christ in-dwelling spirit of love and 
harmony. Nature has ever been trying to blend and equalize ; 
has ever been trying her keys of harmony; and the outwrought 
music expressed in all of nature's face, has shown that more 
dulcet strains have been the effect of repeated effort. The 
height of development is harmony, a diffusion of ideas, with- 
out being met by the spirit of opposition, saying: you can go no 
farther, for the counteracting spirit that stirs up thought is 
accounted the devil's platform of labor. To-day, the devil is a 
positive element; God's left wing of power; the essential grand- 
father that takes care of earth's tottering children that they may 



AGE OF THOUGHT. 



35 



not sink to the bottom land of nonentity. When harmony is 
established between good and evil, evil takes the negative plat- 
form; and good, or goodness, is the predominating result of a 
term of schooling in all the branches of godly forethought and 
purpose, to make man a self-reliant and responsible agent, sent 
out after repeated change to do the work of world-building, be- 
coming like unto Gods, knowing the exact path of mercy, and 
the full and complete law of love. Every person is a fixture un- 
der their own destiny-star; there are the linkings of fate that we 
cannot break away from ; we form attachments that seem strange 
to us, that one part of our nature may revolt at and wish to 
break away from, but the law of fate holds us to our destiny-star, 
and we are moulded by the potter's hand that understands our 
every need, and has placed the tree of knowledge where every 
soul may glean, regardless of the flaming sword that turns every 
way to circumvent the spirit of progress. Growth is a harness 
that ever fits us; when it becomes old-fashioned, stale and profit- 
less, it drops away, and we are fortified in our new compressment 
of liberal take on. There are no impulsive strides in nature; no 
quickening of the great heart pulse that beats in unison with the 
law of scientific control. Science is our master mason for all 
past, present and future building; science is ever demonstrative, 
saying: I come with the proof-sheet of my endeavors; read me 
with the eye of reason, and hearken with the ear of under- 
standing. 

Spirit is rarified matter, the outgrowth of first principle to sus- 
tain itself by its own powers of refinement. Since I first stepped 
outside of my garment of earth, I have been living more in the 
injective sense, more in harmony with my ideal conception of 
things. For instance, and to illustrate, let me say: When living a 
man of earth I seemed to be gleaning for physical promulgation, 
when, in reality and truth, as I now understand it, my gleanings 
of the material only served the material basis that I was living 
with as a protector, until fortified for another and higher condi- 
tion. Earth seems to me now like a planet or township in which 
I had an experience and growth that fortified my soul for its 



36 AGE OF THOUGHT. 



present contingency of flight. When living in our earth bodies, 
the beauties we see, and the melody we take to the soul, the first 
cause and principle, and the thought that goes out to solve the 
whys and wherefores of our existence and ultimate destiny, are 
our levers of truth and strength that time can only cultivate and 
expand, but never destroy; it is the true man looking out from 
the shadowy covering of time. The rose once seen will ever 
leave its impress on the gleaning powers of man's camera of 
active motion; so there will ever be a rose in the spirit of man, 
ever a blade of grass, a songster bird, a towering tree. Man's 
spirit, or the spirit man, reflects on its page of gain the spirit of 
everything outspoken in material counterpart. The rose, or the 
blade of grass, or I might say man in his earth-warp of move- 
ment, is but the scientific phenomena of the interior germ, that 
is as indestructible as God, for it is God's base work; and as 
Cowper says: " God's star of hope that never sets." 

The passional world is the one we live in for the promulgation 
of specific life, and therefore the passional world is the objective 
world — the outside casket that contains the pearl of great price. 
It has ever been a query on earth how the spirit form masters its 
locomotive powers since air seems like a slippery foundation, 
and not safe bottom land on which to tread the courts of heaven. 
If I say now to my readers that magnetism is the fundamental 
ground on which rests spirit power, I shall probably be cited an 
idiot, if believed in at all; but I can wait until belief comes, and 
my theory will keep, for what is fixed in science, belief or unbe- 
lief does not disturb. And I say here and now, that magnetism 
is basic ground on which we mount to Pleiad heights. Some 
people, more than others, recognize magnetic condition, and are 
elated or depressed according to the mingling of the magnetic 
currents of control. Water breaks the chain of magnetic fluids, 
and hence there are no forces to keep persons from being drowned, 
as water is lighter and more porous than solid substance. If 
vessels or ships could be made of India rubber, the danger of 
sinkage would be obviated; and it is my private opinion, pub- 
licly given out, that Noah's craft must have been manufactured 



AGE OF 7H0UGH7, 



3/ 



from gum shellac or some other glutinous substance that could 
withstand the expansion process, and also float at ease, as Noah 
must have been very little skilled in the art of navigation. I 
think it requires a great stretch of credulity to believe that fabu- 
lous ship story; but surface show needs no search of reason, and 
is the prima donna that weak minds grasp and hold fast to. 
Reason is our ark of safety, the channel in which runs the true 
and the spurious seed that God has sown together, that mind may 
work out its own salvation with fear and trembling, lest it be 
found wanting in the sprays to garnish it for the upper courts of 
wisdom. 

King Solomon was accounted a very wise man, but his wisdom 
is in the tombs of the past, and we cannot see his starry crown of 
ancient glory; but if my wanderings lead me to King Solomon's 
spiritual temple, I shall see that his wisdom of earth was as dross 
compared to the jewels set in his temple of spiritual worth. Some 
of those olden heroes of Bible antiquity glow with a true martial 
spirit, and many a warrior to-day might glean some knowledge of 
strategy and courage by perusing the pages of God's warlike 
book that should be kept as a token of God's infancy and man's 
foolishness. 

Magnetism is very little understood on earth, like all other in^ 
terior forces that do not meet the outside eye; we are bound by 
the silvery cord of magnetic influence; we are not only bound to 
each other, but we are bound to God as well, and bound to cer- 
tain localites that holds the magnet from which we cannot escape 
until it is counter-crossed by a stronger magnetic control. We 
may say we are creatures of circumstance, but magnetism is the 
controlling power over circumstance. The circumstance of my 
leaving earth was the magnetic chain being pulled by more hands 
from a spiritual standpoint than from the earthly, and, hence, 
matter had to succumb to spirit. If the magnetic currents of earth 
could be kept active, disease would have less sway; but it should 
be remembered, that the magnetizer, or those coming in contact 
with the sick or enfeebled, should be harmonious in spirit and in 
external attentions of kindness and affection. The ground work 



AGE OF THOUGHT. 



or basic seat of the spirit atmosphere is just as much a material 
support to our spiritual feet, as earth is a support to earth feet, 
I Stand by the side of a medium I wish to control; I stand on the 
solid masonry of magnetic base work; the powers of my brain are 
not forced upon my medium, but mingle and at length overpower 
the negative and sensitive-prepared brain of a chosen worker. As 
we ascend the scale of progress the magnetic fluids assume a finer 
consistency, and we change to suit God's magnetic claim of 
upward movement. I Can return to every point of my life where 
I had an experience, as I said before, if magnetic conditions are 
favorable to my journey. I can only advance in the future as I un- 
derstand the laws of science, and as I am drawn by the power of 
magnetic control. We have as many suits in spirit life as we 
require; every garment is suited to the atmosphere in which we 
have a work to do, or a desire to visit. 

The truth of every material expression in the natural world, is 
here in detailed order; and we, on entering on our soul life, 
and, hence, on our real life, catch something of God's wonderful 
working spirit; and we, of open perceptive faculties, feel a great 
desire to help God, and hasten the hour of the soul's redemption 
from the bondage of ignorance, and the bondage of assumption, 
that professes to know every pivot on which turn the mills of the 
Gods that grind out the truths for the distilling hand of science 
to pass round for man's recognition and reception. 

I had a desire to give my spiritual physiognomy to the world. 
I could find no artist at present developed that I could enthrall 
and hold to the work, but the Andersons, of New York celebrity. 
Their mediumistic worth, in the direction of spirit penciling, is 
truly wonderful ; and should earth do the fair thing by them, by 
giving to them congenial atmosphere, affectional conditions of 
strength and support, their work would develop in many striking 
points of spirit power* Spirit never wears the look of age, but 
possesses the rounded-out fullness of youthful bearing. Artistry, 
in the way of individual characteristics, is very skillfully per- 
formed in spirit life; deeds almost show in the lineal painting or 
pencilling of a spirit face. It will be many years, I think, be- 



AGE OF 'I HOUGH J. 39 



fore another artist on the same line of skill of the Anderson 
compact, will be developed for earth use ; and unless earth 
throws out its magnetic conditions of strength and affection, the 
man and woman over whom God and the angel world have had 
special charge, will drift away and be caught in the spirit arms 
that are ever extended around them. I would that earth could 
realize the broad and silvery compact of love and harmony, the 
fervor of devotion to maintain and spread the gospel of truth and 
righteousness that pervades the courts of the celestial city. God 
is ever recognized as the base worker and designer, the ultima- 
tum over all growth, the finale as well as the beginning; but it is 
a God of principle, a sterling worker with the sciences, that are 
a part and parcel of the God-created whole. I am nothing more 
or less than scientific workmanship; so much carbon-electric fluid 
and oxygen that play on the machinery that is composed of 
electro-nitrogen, and the vesicular currents that materialize active 
fluids; each and every individual, and all animated life, throw off 
more or less constituents that go to form the atmosphere that 
keep active all the life-given powers of man, animal, vegetable 
and fossil existences, that are only governed, upheld and sus- 
tained through the law of cause, effect. All substance is porous; 
the wonder of spirits being seen in rooms where all doors and 
windows are closed, can be explained and made reasonable by the 
fact of substance being porous, admits the electric fluid that 
spirits materialize with earth bodies are renewed and kept in re- 
pair by the chemical changes of atmospheric fluids; it is the spirit 
that casts off or takes on, and of course can redeem its primeval 
qualities of matter, when there is a design in so doing. Spirit must 
ever have a machine-house to labor in, and as fast as it discards the 
old, it takes on the new, and glories in the change that leads into 
the courts of the incorruptible. 

The time has come when man must know himself; his being, 
formed from the dust of the earth, is not wholly satisfactory; he 
must see the former's hand, the tools worked with, and the design 
to be accomplished in the upright structures of individual person- 
alities, with brain powers forever reaching beyond the face of time. 



40 



AGE OF THOUGHT. 



God is manifold in his undertakings, but it is in no way consistent 
with reason to suppose that woman was formed from a rib taken 
from the side of man, for man in his original makeness had noth- 
ing to spare; and I hardly think God would rob a structure tha t 
needed all its forces of financiering ability. That same tale told 
now by any medium in the land would not be believed or tolerated 
for an instant, but, being found in a book where all is God's word, 
though not en rapport with reason, it is read, winked at, and be- 
lieved by many, who have not shed their pin-feathers of righteous 
credulity. There is one thing to my certain knowledge that God 
has never done: if he has made women of men's ribs, talked face 
to face with Moses, and rode in a chariot of fire to the utter disre- 
gard of being burned, and to the great amazement of earth's com- 
mon people, one thing remains undone, and, I think, unthought 
of by God, and that is the building of an Orthodox Heaven. I 
have searched high and low, and never have found the sanctum or 
fold where God has cooped the self-righteous of earth. This may 
be unpleasing news, but it will only be believed by those whose 
hope drops below self-esteem. 

Great God, we treasure truth divine, 
And lift our souls to catch the light; 

Oh, give the knowledge that can find 
Thee in the hour of darkest night. 

Give us a rainbow from Thy clouds, 
A blessing from Thy wells of gain; 

A heart to feel when cries grow loud 
Upon the earthly shores of pain; 

Give treasures, but, Oh ! let them be 

The gems of truth, great God, of Thee I 

I first thought to give this book in rhythmic verse, and nothing 
more, but God says change if it be for the best, and we have 
plenty of evidence of God's changeful mind in his daring book of 
witchcraft and wonder, and in the high-toned book of nature . 



AGE OF THOUGHT. 4I 



God is ever with me, and the Devil never, unless God wills it. I 
am ever ready to rest my faith on God's promises, which are 
daguerreotyped on my manhood's principle ground-work of deal. 
If God promises me justice from the outside world, justice must be 
inherent in me; if He promises me love, love must be apart of 
my nature. We shall never find God's promises to fail, if we culti- 
vate a spirit in harmony with God's spirit, and say to the devil, 
God has made no spare room in my dwelling house for you, there- 
fore hunt for an entrance to some other portal that has failed to put 
up the bars of honest endeavor. God grant that the time may 
soon arrive when the devil may be understood as an outstanding 
post on which to hang our deeds of error; and may God also 
grant that the mantle of Christ's blood, found in sacredotal history, 
may be hung on the devil flag-staff of honor, and then can man- 
kind see another pathway leading out through the channel of 
brotherly and sisterly unity, and that pathway v/ill be strewn with 
the bright blossoming efforts to save every sinner by giving to him 
or her a drink from the fountain of love and sweetly expressed 
hope. 

Christ is on earth to-day, saying, " Come unto me, all ye who 
are heavy laden," for the world is not yet prepared to lay aside 
its great-coat of selfishness that fits so warm and snugly around the 
shoulders of moneyed monopoly. I think Christ must be disgusted 
with the false play made with His blood at the bread broken, with 
gloved fingers, and wine sipped with sanctimonious foolishness, 
typical of joint heirship with him in glory; never is a soul joint 
heir with Christ around the Father's table land of welcome until it 
breaks bread and gives wine, if need be, to the hungry and weak- 
ened ones of earth when self is forgotten, then Christ stands before 
us radiant in the vestment of sell-abnegation. The world could 
not do without Christ; He has ever been its moral and social 
teacher; its star of promise, and its hope fulfilled; and no other 
eulogy would the world ever need but to live, Christ and Him 
crucified. 

My sermon is nearly ended, and I have given it from the Mount 
of Transfiguration. I have spoken freely as of old, but to-day wears 



42 



AGE OF THOUGHT. 



the golden canopy of a more rightful understanding, and I may be 
recognized as one of God's elect, from my having a base-work or 
design on which I am grafting the principles which will bear fruits 
mete for the kingdom of the resurrected. Christ has for centuries 
been earth's hobby-horse, ridden with the reins of illicit under- 
standing; but now, when humanity require something more than 
the dry bones of historical theology, Christ's second coming will 
be flower-capped and heralded by the many tones of spirit power. 
Christ is the medium to-day through which God pours light to the 
world; and the prediction is from many a bright mind that within 
fifty years the world will receive Christ in a medium developed for 
time's use. 

Earth hath its time for growth, 
As water in its flow; 

Seeks deepening wells and oceans grand, 

God's mind of greatness to expand; 
And Christ, God's mediumistic flower, 
Must shed sweet peace in every bower. 

And then shall truth be mightier than the sword, for it shall cut 
away all false show of religious power, and angels can come and go 
without being stigmatized as ghosts, but will be welcomed and re- 
ceived by hearts ever singing God's praise. Let us work while we 
wait, work for the growth of our souls, and for the glory of Christ's 
reign; and then shall we be found with our lamps trimmed and 
burning, ready to go or ready to stay, ready to receive and ready to 
give, ready to stand a guard on duty, since we have truth cooped 
by our side, singing the glad song of never-ending joy. 

THE END. 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

022 175 861 4 



